Wednesday, May 09, 2007

Starting Date : Students should be able to start in September/October 2007

The International PhD Programme “Molecular Cell Biology” has been established in 2003, and is a joint activity of the Max-Delbrück Centre (MDC) for Molecular Medicine and the Humboldt University (HU) Berlin. Every year 10-12 students from around the world are being selected on a competitive basis to join the Programme.

The Programme provides exceptional research opportunities and in-depth interdisciplinary training in Molecular Cell Biology, with strong emphasis on the fundamental molecular biology and molecular cell biology as a foundation of modern medicine. It is aimed at university graduates (with Diploma or Masters degree), who wish to obtain a PhD in the fields of Cell Biology, Molecular Biology, Molecular Genetics, Molecular Cardiovascular Research, Developmental Biology and Neurobiology.There are 41 Research Groups you could select from and it is up to you to choose that "big" question you wish to find an answer for during your PhD research. And because we have critical mass of the scientific expertise at the MDC and Berlin-Buch Campus, you would never be far away from a world expert, be it in cancer signalling pathways or genomics, systems biology or macromolecular structure, gene therapy or neuronal stem cells.

LanguageThe working language of the Programme is English.

Starting DateStudents should be able to start in September/October 2007

FundingSuccessful PhD candidates are awarded a 3-year Scholarship from the MDC or HU, with a possibility of extension decided on a case-by-case basis. The salary level for the graduate students employed as research assistants is in accordance with the standard tariff for public service sector and is about 1400 EUR gross, which translates to between 900 - 1100 EUR net. MDC also provides travel grants to its PhD students, encouraging them to attend international scientific meetings to present their findings.

PhD DegreeAs a rule, our PhD students are enrolled at the Humboldt University of Berlin or the Free University of Berlin to obtain their degree - Doctor rerum naturalium (Dr. rer. nat.), translated as Doctor of Natural Sciences. This is a German equivalent of the PhD degree and is internationally recognised and accepted as such. Students could also opt for a university of their home country to get their PhD degree from.

Wider PhD students community at the MDCThe MDC`s PhD student community is not limited to the International PhD Programme only, - there are about 150 of graduates working on their PhDs at any point in time (do check our students` web site). Every year our PhD students organise a PhD Retreat (please, see the photo from the last one), where they present their results, meet distinguished invited speakers of their own choice, exchange ideas and socialise. But you do not have to wait for a year to get out of the lab, - in their free time our graduates also organise regular outings, or, as it is called here `Stammtisch`.